New York City mayor 'disgusted' over alleged group rape at playground

This image from security video provided by the New York Police Department, from a security camera at a bodega at 635 Watkins St. in the Brooklyn borough of New York, shows three men who are wanted by police in connection with the gang rape of an 18-year-old woman who was walking in the nearby Osborn Playground with her father later the same evening.
(New York Police Department via AP)

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday said he is "disgusted and deeply saddened" by accusations of a group rape of an 18-year-old woman at a Brooklyn playground, and that every possible step will be taken to find the suspects.

Authorities said the woman was accosted just after 9 p.m. Thursday as she and her father walked inside Osborn Playground in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

Police said there were five men, and one pointed a gun at the father and told him to leave. Each man raped the woman, police said. The father returned with two police officers, but the attackers fled.

The woman was treated at Kings County Hospital and released.

"I am disgusted and deeply saddened by the horrific attack," de Blasio said.

He added, "Every New Yorker in every neighborhood deserves to feel safe and protected, and we will not stop until the perpetrators of this disturbing attack are held accountable for their actions."

Elected officials, residents and activists spoke out against the alleged assault on Sunday, offering a reward for information leading to an arrest.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams released a statement saying he was "sickened" by reports of the attack and called on the New York Police Department to conduct a full investigation "not only to identify all those responsible for this horrific attack, but also to determine if everything possible was done to protect the victim and the public."

An NYPD police spokesman said there was no delay in the police response.

"A patrol car from the 73rd Precinct was approached on the street and told about the attack by the victim's father, who directed the officers to the scene," police spokesman Stephen Davis said.

"The police officers immediately responded and located the victim," Davis said. "The suspects had already fled."

Police have released surveillance video that they say shows the men in a bodega before the incident.